Baby Deliveries: Mid-Wife or M.D?

In the past 25 years I have helped deliver 100s of babies all in hospital settings and 99% of the deliveries were done by C-section. Many were scheduled, most were brought in from the ward that started out as regular deliveries. I believe many of the mothers were sort of convinced that they had done enough labor and wanted to get it over with. I mean come on if I was in labor for a few hours it probably wouldn't take to much convincing to get me to the operating room administer a spinal or epidermal and open me up to get that baby out.

Well, I also helped deliver my two children, all under the watchful eye of a Mid-wife. I believe that there are advantages to having an M.D. deliver your baby as there are for having a home delivery. One of my kids was born in the hospital with the help of a midwife and the other was born at a mid-wifes birthing center. I cant speak for my wife but both times I would have like to be at home. Just my personal opinion. We knew with our second child that we lived to far out in the country for our mid-wife to feel comfortable. We were living off the grid and really did not have enough power to have a typical American house. But we did not have a power bill.

I really think that each couple has to weigh all the pros and cons of where when and sometimes how the babies are delivered. Certainly with out question in my mind the mother has the ultimate say in the matter. I always wanted my wife to feel comfortable about the decision we made and let her know that she could chose any way to deliver the baby that she felt comfortable. I figure that if I was going to have a baby myself that I would want people around me that are supportive and not necessarily agree with everything that I am saying but try to understand. Believe me it takes more of a man to be supportive of your partner than not. With out getting into all the emotional aspects of a couple having a child, the most important part that I could play was to be supportive of my wife. I did not need a book to tell me what I needed to do, I just figured that my wife and new children deserved it without question. So it was easy if I just kept focused on them.